Library’s Tasty Treasure: George Washington’s Beer

We cannot tell a lie: Even George Washington needed to take the edge off sometimes.

The founding father and first president of the republic was a man of the people when it came to his drink of preference. His “Notebook as a Virginia Colonel,” dated from 1757, includes a handwritten recipe for “small beer.”

Associated Press

George Washington’s recipe for “small beer”. For a larger version, scroll to the end of this post.

That recipe, along with many of Washington’s other papers, is part of the New York Public Library’s collection. This month, the library is partnering with Shmaltz Brewing Company to recreate a modern version of the porter, to celebrate the centennial of its Stephen A. Schwarzman building.

Just 15 gallons will be brewed and offered for tasting. Local brewers Peter Taylor and Josh Knowlton have taken the liberty of tweaking the recipe, which the NYPL has dubbed “Fortitude’s Founding Father Brew.”

The brewers made batches of the beer, one with molasses — which Washington used — and one without, substituting malted barley for the fermentable sugar.

“Back then, they didn’t really have quite the same understanding of brewing science that we do now,” said Josh Knowlton.

Of Washington’s beer, “it’s pretty light, pretty dry, medium-bodied but roasty,” Knowlton said. “We used some roasted malts in there so it’s definitely got some of a roasted, chocolaty, little bit of a coffee flavor.”

The ingredient list is fairly basic, consisting of bran hops, yeast and molasses. The concoction is to “stand till it is little more than Blood warm,” in Washington’s words. He goes on to advise would-be brewers to “cover it over with a Blanket[et]” if the weather is very cold.

Despite its apparent simplicity, Jeremy Cowan, founder of Shmaltz Brewing Company, which makes Coney Island Lager, among other beers, called the recipe “tricky.”

“The ingredients in the brewing process that he used are kind of pre-modern,” he said.

Cowan figures Washington probably sketched the recipe the way a grandmother would, tweaking it and adding ingredients during the actual production. “They obviously did a couple of things that aren’t written down here, like a grandmother would,” he said. “So yeah, George Washington is like my old Jewish grandmother.”

Cowan said one of his brewers is also trying to reproduce a strict version of the recipe at their brewery in Coney Island. He hopes to use the finished product at future events and may even sell it. “I want to see if this is something that’s so special and one of a kind or whether we should explore putting it out on a larger scale,” he said.

Ann Thornton, acting director of the library, acknowledged that the brewing is an unusual way to celebrate a centennial.

“It is absolutely a very rare treasure of the library, it’s something that people might not expect and it’s something that can be brought to life today,” she said.

The beer will be showcased at the library’s centennial gala on May 23. The public can sample it on May 18 at Rattle N Hum, at 14 E. 33rd Street in Manhattan.